Recipes

As a college student, I find myself buying bananas more often than I anticipated. They are not my favorite fruit by any means, but their easy packaging, sturdiness, and versatility complement the busy student lifestyle.

You have probably had apple pie with vanilla ice cream before, but have you tried apple ~cake~ with vanilla ice cream? This recipe is a personal favorite and a childhood throwback for me, since my mom would always make this at home. I may very well be biased, but I do think it’s just as yummy and a great dessert even if you’re not a big fan of pies.

I’ve got a butter article in the works -- yep, you read that right. An article about butter -- specifically French butter. But, as it’s still in development, I offer you this recipe for Tarte aux Poires.

It doesn’t take a lot to have a healthy, filling, delicious breakfast. If you are like me and taking time to cook a substantial breakfast isn’t your cup of tea, then these three recipes are for you. These recipes are simple and use only seven ingredients to make all three of them! I prepared the ingredients the night prior and it took only about fifteen minutes, which makes these recipes ideal for those who rush out to class every morning.

I have been a vegan for nine months now, and it has been the most amazing lifestyle change I have made for myself. I am often posed with questions about what I eat on daily basis. A common misconception about being vegan is that I only eat salads, a bunch of nuts, or nothing at all. I’m here to dismantle this idea one meal at a time -- eating well and getting in a variety of foods is easier than you think.

I love salmon. It’s full of Omega-3 (the healthy kind of fat!), it can be prepared in so many different ways, and it can handle so many different flavor profiles so you can experiment with new seasonings and sauces every time you make it! Honestly, could you ask for a more perfect fish?

Have you ever watched Tasty videos on Facebook and wondered how the recipes turn out in real life? Well, look no further as I recreate Goodful’s healthy banana pancakes recipe. What made me decide to actually try out this recipe as opposed to bookmarking it for later was definitely how simple it is. Bananas, oats, and eggs are all you need for the base, not to mention how accessible bananas are for those who have a meal plan. Each of the three recipes starts with this base, so just add a few more simple ingredients to get the finished product!

Saint Louis, the city I grew up in, is famous for something called Gooey Butter Cake. My whole life I grew up thinking this was a common dessert. When I first found out it was estranged to the rest of the world and just a Saint Louis native treat, I was shocked only because it is one of the yummiest desserts or snacks (depending on your sweet tooth). Gooey Butter Cake’s core ingredients involve cream cheese, yellow cake mix, vanilla, butter and powdered sugar. Really can’t get any better than that.

Whether you’re doing breakfast, lunch, or dinner for this Easter Holiday, these easy cookie dough truffles will be the star of the show. Not only can they be made in advance, but also won’t take up any of that precious oven time!

I love making desserts with seasonal ingredients, so when I saw chestnuts at a grocery store, I immediately had the idea to make a Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is a French dessert. Its name is literally translated as “white mountain” in English. It was named in such way because the dessert looks like a mountain with snow covers on it. So everyhing about this dessert, the taste or the look, is perfect for the season.

“When we stepped back and looked at it, we’re like, this looks like vomit. It looks like a blueberry threw up on our pancakes.” “Happy breakfast.” - Ashlee Pham and Sophia Pou commenting on their dish of blueberry hotcakes with date and banana butter; My Kitchen Rules 2013

When you think of a pancake, babes, there are a surprisingly large number of different kinds out there. Latkes, scallion pancakes, crepe, hotcakes, roti, just to name a couple. But we in Team Babes love fluffy, fluffy pancakes. The Japanese hotcake is the king, or in our case, the queen of this category. Hotcakes are similar to the American-styled pancakes, but there is one key difference. They are airy, light, and typically, you’ll see them as these thick, thick hockey pucks. The original babes, they actually prepared those for the breakfast challenge in My Kitchen Rules, but we want our pancakes fluffy, not supersized, “a little bit fat.”

The idea behind using ube (Okinawan sweet potato), is because purple is the color of royalty, and we are the reigning babes over the world. We are “definitely in full dictator mode,” and have “been given the crowns and now it’s time to reign.” That was a joke. You may laugh now. But in all seriousness, we wanted to use ube because we have seen so many purple sweet potato desserts as of late, and we wanted to combine these fluffy Japanese-styled hotcakes with another Japanese thing, and figured between matcha and ube, ube would prove to be a bigger challenge, and we went full throttle with it.

The ube itself, we cooked in a Chinese almond milk tea, but most people cannot realistically get that (Fred acquired it from his friend Savannah, who got it during her winter break in Shanghai), so use almond milk instead for a similar flavor. We reserved the ube milk, because it would be a waste to pour this naturally purple colored liquid down the drain, when we could use it in our pancake batter, which is exactly what we did. For the batter itself, we don’t want our dessert to be too sweet and taste “like a Christmas ham,” so we used a very small amount of sugar, while using a large amount of egg whites to amp up the fluff levels of the hotcakes.

To make the hotcakes super thick, you would normally use a ring mold. But Fred and Adrienne were not in the mood to wrestle with pancake batter in large metal rings, so they went free form with them; the recipe was adjusted to free-form pancakes, but if you wanted to use the metal rings, you’d need to make sure to line those with oil, and then cook the pancakes on one side for 10 minutes, and then the other for five minutes, keeping the pan covered the entire time when you are not flipping those.

Finally, kaya is a Malaysian coconut jam, very similar to a custard. It traditionally uses pandan, but we did not want to overwhelm the flavor of the ube, so we omitted that. We made it into a cream but taking the kaya and folding it in with heavy whipping cream to give it more body, babes.

Whip egg whites, cream of tartar, baking powder until stiff, slowly adding in the granulated sugar. Whisk the ube milk with the potato puree to loosen, and then sift the flour over that mixture. Fold in the egg whites to create the batter.

In a lightly oiled pan that has been placed over low heat, pour about ¼ cup of the batter. Allow to sit for about 3-4 minutes, whenever the side is set and removable, before flipping and finishing on the other side for another 2-3 minutes.

For Ube Milk:1 Okinawan sweet potato1 cup almond milk (we in Team Babes used Almond Milk Tea powder, but that is not something you can find in most grocery stores anyways)1 tablespoon honey1/4 teaspoon vanilla extracta pinch of salt

Peel and dice the potato. Bring the almond milk to a simmer and add in the potatoes. Boil until tender. Strain out the potatoes, reserving them for the hotcake batter, and then add in the honey, vanilla, and salt.

Whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and sugar. Bring the coconut milk to a simmer, and temper the yolks. Whisk the entire mixture over medium high heat, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain and chill, with plastic wrap pressed tightly against the surface, until the mixture is completely cold and set. Whisk heavy cream until stiff and fold into the kaya mixture to finish.

Imagine a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. The swirling of marshmallows creates a rainbow of color in your milk—it looks like spring in a bowl. That is what I was channeling when I made these cupcakes. They are a much-needed reminder that spring is around the corner. Not to mention, if you, like any normal human being, enjoy the taste of Lucky Charms, it is infused in every layer, from the cake to the frosting and all over the top, so you’ll enjoy these.

Many of my friends know that I love baking and making desserts. And the one thing you can’t avoid in a dessert is sugar. So people are always surprised to hear that I prefer to my dessert on the not as sweet side. With that said, matcha green tea has become one of my all-time-favorite ingredients to use. Matcha has a natural bitterness which creates a perfect balance when combined with sugar. So the recipe I have today, it’s a Matcha Mousse with Red Bean Oreo Base.

When I tried to decide what to make for my next dessert, I also asked other people what they wanted to eat. The other night, it was cold outside and my roommate was craving butterscotch pudding. So I decided to make that classic dessert.

‘Twas a peaceful, God-given snow day at Boston University when some friends and I decided to brave the storm for a Target run to make some chocolate soufflé. Just as spontaneous as our mid-afternoon baking session was, the following is a secret (well, not anymore) recipe that my friend gladly provided by memory. I would say that this recipe is not for beginners as it involves beating egg whites to soft peaks and timing everything really well. It is, however, simple in steps and only requires a few ingredients.

Some things that my friends have said about my “What’s Shakin’ Bacon” Sriracha Fried Rice:“Mmm, yeah, so good”“This is like, surprisingly good coming from you, Chloe”

Photo taken from http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2015/05/18/bacon-fried-rice/

So everyone knows I have a grand total of five dishes that I make over and over again, and this is one of the better ones. It goes over really well because who doesn’t love bacon and sriracha? WOMBO COMBO! The fried rice also keeps pretty well in the fridge. It goes without saying that you can adjust the sriracha if you’re a wimp like me and INCREASE THE BACON to compensate.

Ingredients:-3 cups of cooked white rice (better if it’s a day old so it isn’t as mushy)-Bacon-Sriracha-Soy sauce-2 eggs, 3 if you’re feeling fertile and generous-Sesame Oil (Olive Oil or Butter works just as well, you disappointment)-Salt N’ Pepper to taste-Garlic paste-1 chopped onion, try not to cry too much. Unless you’re into that sort of thing

First things first, I’m the realest. Secondly, take out your handy-dandy kitchen scissors along with everyone’s Favorite Strip of Meat and cut each of the bacon strips into four pieces. This definitely makes them easier to manage in the pan, and I usually use around six to eight strips of bacon because I’m always hankering for meat. Heh. Fry those suckers until they’re crispy, and set aside on a paper towel and plate. I promise, we’ll come back to them in just a bit. We could never abandon them, right Dad? Dad?

While we’re waiting for him to come home, coat your pan of choice (wok on!) with sesame oil and toss in the chopped onions and salt and pepper. This will take a few minutes, so go ahead and cook your eggs in a different pan. What I like to do here is crack them sunny-side up, and then when they’re nearly done, I mess up the yolk like it stole my boyfriend and let that cook for a little more. I’m sure there’s a professional name for that messy in-between type of egg (not quite sunny-side, not quite scrambled). Use a fork or a knife to dice up the eggs as fine as you’d like (Hella Fine), and set aside next to the bacon. They’re about to become intimately acquainted! When the onions are beginning to brown, add in the cooked rice and a tablespoon of garlic paste - as much as you can stand (I LOVE garlic paste). Drizzle soy sauce on top for 2 seconds, and stir. Transfer the Nameless eggs and bacon bits (we didn’t forget you guys!) into the pan with the rice and continue to mix. Last but not least, squirt a healthy amount of sriracha on top of this mouthwatering dish. Taste test time! Check if you’d like more soy sauce or sriracha - if not, recipe complete. I’m so proud of you!

“You know, that’s fine if she wants to do it because they think she’s creative. Yeah, she’s wearing fuchsia and red.” - Ashlee Pham when her less competent competitor, Jenna was nominated team leader for the pop-up restaurant decorating committee; My Kitchen Rules 2013

Matcha is awesome. Of course, it’s trending, and so there will be things like ice cream, crepe cakes, cream puffs, cookies, and even egg tarts made from it. We in Team Babes are naturally leaders, not followers, therefore, we want to make a matcha dessert of our very own. And thus, we created matcha madelines. And because we cannot live without chocolate, we chopped up white chocolate chips, and folded those into the batter. If you deprive our desserts of some form of chocolate, then Fred and Adrienne will deprive you of your life.